Every company has a common problem, that is, loosing talent. According to Forbes, the predominant reason why major organizations are losing their best talent pool is due to poor performance reviews. Most often the reasons may be due to insufficient training given to mangers in setting goals, identifying performance gaps, coaching, evaluating and sharing feedback.

Effective training programs are proven to help equip the managers with the required skill set and increase their confidence levels in communicating with their employees.

Classroom training is seen as a most preferred method to train the employees on performance management. Classroom training is the best way to impart training in soft skills. Generally many people do not consider eLearning as a suitable training method to train employees on performance management. But I would like to bust this myth by sharing the 5 best instructional design strategies that can make eLearning effective for performance management training.

1) Avatars

Avatars are powerful learning agents that speak straight to the learner throughout the course, making it easier for the learner to understand. They represent a person or a character that can interact with the course users. During the course it acts as a mentor or a guide to the learners.

How to teach with Avatars?

So, to introduce what performance management is and why it is important, an avatar can be used who acts as a facilitator throughout the course. An avatar will appear in the intro and can also be used at the conclusion of the course. In addition to introducing a course, an avatar can also be used to provide the “average user question”. The question can be prompted in the voice of an avatar, after which choices can be presented on the screen, and then appropriate feedback will be again in the voice of an avatar.

2) Scenarios

It is based on situational cognition, which builds relationships between the learner and the contexts or situations. The objective of scenario-based learning is to make eLearning as realistic as possible and this can be done by using a series of situations, or contexts to explain the concepts, or decisions.

How do you teach with Scenarios?

As we know, for employees or managers, it is important that they understand their roles and responsibilities in the performance management process. As a manager, his or her role involves setting goals and objectives for the employees, reviewing the progress, providing feedback, and coaching. These responsibilities can be explained clearly using scenarios in a course; likewise the roles and responsibilities of an employee can also be explained using scenarios. Since we know that employees and managers often have misconceptions about performance management, scenarios can be framed to show what exactly performance management is and how it is different from performance appraisals and the misconceptions can be busted. For example, a dialog can be facilitated between an employee and a manager, where the manager talks about performance management and goal setting with an employee.

3) Process tables

Process tables or flow diagrams are used to teach processes or how things work. The reason they are employed in an eLearning course is that they promote better understanding to represent an abstract processes and of course to manage cognitive load.

How do you teach using Process tables?

So, in any performance management course we have the performance management lifecycle to show goal-setting steps, mid-year reviews and also the year-end appraisals. This life cycle can be presented in a clear, simple way to a learner using process tables. We use it when each stage of the process has steps, actions, and responsibilities.

This is how avatars, scenarios and process tables can be used to explain the performance management and roles and responsibilities of employees in the performance management process. In my next blog, we will see the next two instructional strategies “Simulations” and “games” to teach performance management.

About CommLab India

CommLab India addresses the learning and development needs of major organizations through its custom and rapid e-learning solutions, translations and mobile learning services. Since 2000, we have been offering technology-enabled solutions to accelerate workforce performance.

Our interactive online courses employ the best training strategies such as microlearning, game-based learning, and videos and are developed using the latest authoring tools. Read More